1876.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



55 



pot-ato tubers. These resting spores had never 

 been seen till last spring, when they were dis- 

 covered in England by Mr. Woi'thington G. 

 Smith, and found to be the cause of what was 

 supposed to be a new potato disease. It was, 

 however, but a new phase of the same old 

 epecies of Peronospora, the peculiar season having 

 favored the development of these resting spores, 

 and hence leading to their discovery. 



We believe, however, that Mr. Smith's dis- 

 covery extends no further than the open ground; 

 and that Dr. Hunt's finding them on the tubers 

 and actively at work, is new and important. His 

 remarks will, no doubt, be given in full in the 

 Academy's proceedings ; in the meantime, at our 

 request, Dr. Hunt has kindly given the above 

 abstract to us. Ed. G. M.] 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



PiKus ARISTATA. — Many American botanists 

 believe that this is the same as one collected by 

 Jeffrey, in California, and named by Mr. Murray 

 P. Balfouriana, and if so, the name of P. aristata 

 will have to be dropped, in accordance with the 

 recognized botanical law of priority. It must be 

 confessed, however, that no trees of P. aristata 

 have been found that have the cones quite so 

 much narrowed out as those figured from Jef- 

 frey's collection as P. Balfouriana. Neither, so 

 far as we know, have any more of this form been 

 collected since Jeffrey's time, though California 

 has been pretty well explored. We would thank 

 any of our readers who may live in those dis- 

 tricts, and may find very narrow-coned forms of 

 Pinus aristata, to send us specimens. Mr. Jef- 

 frey's cones came from near Mount Shasta, in 

 Northern California. 



Utilizing the Rain. — Where land is of a hard, 

 rocky character, the rains are liable to run rap- 

 idly to the streams, very little penetrating be- 

 neath the surface. In such soils forests are of 

 immense service by checking the rapid flow, and 

 giving time for the water to sink in the ground. 

 Little of this water, however, goes to aid springs, 

 but is held by the soil for the trees' own use. The 

 farmer is a much better aid to the water reservoirs 

 of the earth than nature ever was. He loosens 

 the soil by his various methods of culture, so 

 that absorption takes place very rapidly. More 

 rain will penetrate the earth in an acre of well 

 cultivated com or potatoes, or even in an ordi- 



nary timothy sod, in one year, than there would 

 be in the same land, naturally hard and tree 

 covered, in double the time. Art will beat na- 

 ture in these matters. 



RoFiA FIBERS. — In many of our seed stores 

 Rofia is introduced in competition with Linden 

 bark for tying plants. It is not quite so low in 

 price, but is sometimes thought to go further. 

 It is simply the split leaves of a palm of Mada- 

 gascar — Sagus Ruffaa. 



Pronunciation of De Candolle. — A. J. S.: The 

 accent is on the second syllable, — not Be Candolle, 

 but De Ca?7dolle. The letters or abbreviations 

 after plants' names are for the names of the 

 botanists who gave the name to the plant. Thus 

 Fuchsia, Lin., signifies that Linnaeus gave the 

 plant that name. The reference is useful as fur- 

 nishing a clue to the original description, and 

 then it sometimes happens that the same name 

 will be given to different plants, when the author's 

 name is almost essential to distinguish one from 

 another. 



New Colorado and California Plants. — Dr. 

 Asa Gray contributes to the January number of 

 the Proceedings of the American Academy, 

 notes on various American plants, many new. 

 Some will be of interest to florists when they once 

 get into the seed trade, as quite a number belong ^ 

 to families that have already furnished us with 

 well known favorites. When new Western 

 plants are found, the Asteraceous order is nearly 

 sure to be found among them, as many of these 

 are. A new genus, Palmerella, is described, — it is 

 allied to Lobelia and another, a shrub from 

 Guadalupe Island, off Lower California, named 

 Hesperela'a, of the Oleineous tribe, to which our 

 Chionanthus belongs. There are several Gilias 

 and allies, a tribe that gives us many ornamental 

 annuals; some Convolvuli and Pentstemons. 

 The genus Mimulus, also containing many inter- 

 esting plants to the florist, has undergone a com- 

 plete revise. 



There is a genus of plants of the Chenopodia- 

 ceous, or, to make ourselves understood by the 

 general reader, we may say the order the Spin- 

 age belongs to, named by Hooker, Grayia, in 

 honor of Professor Asa Gray. It is interesting to 

 note that one of the discoveries of Prof. Gray, as 

 recorded in this paper, tends somewhat to 

 weaken this genus and place it nearer the old one, 

 Atriplex; at the same time the discovery in- 

 duces him to elevate an older species to generic 

 rank. Atriplex, or Obione Suckleyana. is hence- 



